A Small Town Called Enterprise
by Zelda12343
Summary: The story of a small town called Enterprise and its inhabitants, many of whom are quite familiar to us, through a school year. The main installment of the ASTCE-verse; mega AU. Read Totally Illogical or Silver, away first if you don't understand anything. Includes characters from all universes but focuses on TOS and TNG, with plenty of VOY too.
1. Chapter 1

**Brothers first**

**AUthor's note: **_As many of you doubtlessly know,today is Star Trek's 46th anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Star Trek!*claps*_

_As a result, I figured it would be fitting to publish the first chapter of the main Story in the ASTCE-verse, the one that gives it it's name, today. I rushed it a little, so I want to hear your ideas to improve it in reviews. _

_Also, you might wonder why I published it as a crossover between TOS and Other Star Trek. It's because this installment features characters from most If not all of the TV shows, though TOS is the main one._

_Anyhow, enjoy!_

* * *

It was a wonderful night in the small town called Enterprise. Wonderful for staying out late, that is!

At least, James thought so. Which was why he'd done exactly that. It was now past midnight, and he was still out with a girl in spite of the fact that it was Wednesday night. In spite of Leonard's attempts at a curfew, James pretty much came and went as he wished. It wasn't as though Enterprise was crime-ridden or anything. If anything, it was one of the safer towns, save the few crime-ridden areas around the edges. However, he was sensible enough to not go there. He simply did his homework at the local Diner and drove through the town with the girl of the night.

Yes, the girl of the night. James had nearly unlimited charm, and combined with his fondness for girls and his tendency to flirt meant that he had had a steady supply of girlfriends. However, he had yet to find a girl with whom he'd been able to stay with more than three months. For some reason, he (and she, whoever she happened to be at the time) just drifted apart after that.

"So, what's our destination? Are you taking me home or what?" asked his date of the night, one Natasha Friedman, in a bored voice. He had a strong suspicion that they were running out of steam as a couple. Mainly, this was because she was rather possessive, insisting he spend every night with her and eat linch at her table every day. However, the facts that the two of them had very little in common hardly helped.

"Yeah, we'll go to my place," he agreed, silently deciding to figure out what to do to save their relationship later, and revved up his car's engine. His family, one of the more well-off ones in Enterprise, was one of the few which owned two cars. While neither of his parents were in town that often, oftem traveling for some work-related issue or other, the two cars were still both used quite liberally by the boys. This one, a bright red vintage convertible his big brother had messed with to make the engine one of the most fuel efficient any of the boys had ever heard of, happened to be the one he preferred. Thus, he always used it on dates. And on pretty much anything which only involved two people.

As soon as he got home, he climbed out of the car and circled over to Natasha's door, where he opened it and offered her his arm. No one could say James wasn't a gentleman. As a matter of fact, it was one of his many attractive features.

As Natasha was taking his arm and smirking, James chanced a look at his home. It was a fairly nice place, with enough room for him and his six brothers to be comfortable, although they used all the available space. He dearly loved #1701, the home he'd known for all his life.

Looking through one window, he realized that a light was still on. This particular light was a lamp at the table in the small breakfast nook. Someone was still up at this inordinately late hour.

He walked into his home, Natasha hanging on his arm like a very large purse.

"So what are we going to do, Jimmy?" she asked him in what she believed to be a sensual voice. He put a free finger to his lis, not wanting to wake anyone else up.

"How about sandwiches?" he suggested (in a quiet voice) as an excuse to get to the kitchen (and the adjoining breakfast nook). He wanted to see exactly who it was who'd remained awake to wait for him. He had a pretty good idea of who it was. Although all of his brothers loved him, Only three members of his family were devoted enough to him to do something like that, and two of them were old enough to realize how stupid it would be to wait for him like that. Besides, he was hungry, as he often these days. Ah, the joys of being a teenager.

"What? But we already ate," she replied, obviously nonplussed.

"Yeah, three hours ago," he pointed out as they crept through his living room. Indeed, they had eaten dinner at the Enterprise Diner at 9:00 after finishing their homework. "How about just some small sandwiches?"

"Whatever," she sighed. "Come on, let's go."

At this point, they'd reached the kitchen. And absolutely no one was there. James wondered if Leonard had simply left a light on or something. He absent mindedly indicated for Natasha to sit down at the breakfast table and turned to get the things for a proper sandwich.

And then, Natasha screamed.

James whirled around to see a figure wearing a hideous mask emerge from under the table. The mask even gave James the creeps with its shaggy head, sunken black eye sockets, a complete lack of pupils, and a mouth shaped vaguely like a vacuum nozzle without an attachment. James could nearly see the thing putting its mouth on his hand, leaving angry red marks and sucking him dry of-whoa. He quickly pushed his mind back to the present, wondering where that random tangent of thought had come from. That happened to him a lot, come to think of it.

Where was he? Oh, right. The ugly creature. Or rather, the supposedly hideous creature. James calmed right down when he realized it was wearing yellow footed pajamas. No monster in their right minds would do that. However, he knew who would.

"Calm down, Natasha. You, take that mask off," he ordered. For some reason, people listened when he gave orders. Natasha sure did. As did the monster, who removed its mask to demonstrate that it was not a monster after all, just a boy with dark hair from the 60s and a remarkably innocent expression. Still holding the scary mask, he walked up to James, his footed pajamas deadening any sound his small feet might make. Soon enough, he was standing right in front of James, who knelt to meet the little one. For a moment, the two simply looked at each other. Then the younger boy threw his arms around James' neck, who wrapped his own arms around the boy as he stood up.

"Hey, Pavel," he said with a grin. The aforementioned boy, who was in fact his adopted brother Pavel, grinned widely in response and dropped the mask, then buried his head in James' neck. Although the seven-year-old never spoke, James understood him as well as if he were a little chatterbox who would say what came to his mind.

"You two were in cahoots to scare me," Natasha sounded angry now. "You and your freak of a little brother."

Pavel froze. James turned slowly to face her. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me! You and that little freak decided to pull a prank on me!"

"Calm down," James pleaded. "It was just my brother being silly. We didn't plan this and he meant no harm."

"I can't believe you're siding with him! Fine, I'm going home." Scowling, Natasha flounced out.

"Over-emotional much?" Kirk remarked softly. Pavel was trembling like a leaf in James' arms. James held him close, furious how she'd insulted his brother-until he realized Pavel was shaking with laughter. Although he didn't talk, Pavel certainly could do things such as laugh or cry. Therefore, Leonard had deduced he was capable of speech, and that his being mute was psychological rather than physical. Why this psychological mutism occurred in the young one was totally unknown, though they had theorized a great many possibilities.

Gently, James set Pavel down and collapsed onto the floor in laughter. The two laughed their heads off for about two minutes straight until Pavel sat up, brushed his dark brown bangs out of his eyes, and smiled at his older brother. James soon got a grip on himself as well.

"She got the short end, huh?" James said with a smirk. "She'll have to walk home and lost her boyfriend." Pavel gave him an inquiring look. "You really think I'd stay with someone who called my brother a freak?"

Just like that, the smile faded off Pavel's face. He was often judged as such for his silence, and few things hurt the child more deeply. Just a harmless joke had ended up with a nasty insult.

"Hey, we both know it's not true, right?" James drew the child close once more. "She's the freak, not you. Just put it out of your head." Slowly, Pavel relaxed and gave James a light grin.

"Let's get to bed, Pavel," James suggested, figuring the seven-year-old must be exhausted and would be able to put the incident out of his mind. However, said seven-year-old had other ideas. Pavel shook his head and gave his older brother a pleading look.

"Yes, we have a chance for some peace and quiet away from the other five. But we should both get to sleep."

Another pleading look.

"…fine. But only five minutes."

Pavel grinned widely.

"How about some warm milk? And some small sandwiches?"

* * *

**Author's note: **_Can you find the Reference to The Man Trap, the first episode of TOS to air? Let me know in a review and thanks! Reviews fuel this verse, you know. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Breakfast shennanigans**

**AUthor's note: **_I made a typo in the word 'Author'. will I fix it? Nah, it'll be my trademark in this story. Besides, it's an incredibly lame pun. Woot!_

_I am very grateful for the response to this first chapter! I figured posting it under the section TOS/other crossover was a bad idea, since then Fewer people would find it, but apparently some did! Yay! Keep up the reviewing, please-it keeps me going on this story!_

_So, I started going on this chapter and ended up with nearly 3000 words. Wow. Please let me know if there's too much information In here. My apologies. I tried not to load too much in, but this being the real introduction to the story…yeah. _

_On a totally unrelated note, some of the TNG characters make their debut in the ASTCE-verse in this chapter! Yay for them! If you're not familiar with the TNG characters, please don't stop reading the story just because of that. _

_Alrighty, I'll just respond to the reviews (feel free to skip unless you're curious. Or if you wrote a review and want a reply) and we'll be on with the story. _

**Hermione-of-Vulcan: **_Glad you found it! Mind telling me what you think it is? I'm also glad you think I've done a good job with the characterization. And as for the TNG characters? Meet them in this chapter :). I didn't feel like I did as good of a job with them, to be honest…_

**Trekkie2: **_I'm glad you like it so far! It's alright about not finding the reference. And I'm sorry about the pain-meds! What happened? That is, if you feel like talking about it… Anyway, hope you feel better and hope you enjoy this chapter. _

**Laveycee: **_Remember all the questions you had when you reviewed_ Totally Illogical?_ Maybe this'll help you understand even more. Anyway, I sure am happy you like it! Hope you like this next chapter too. _

**Anonymous: **_Glad you like it and hope you'll keep reading. And why Pavel's mute? Well, the fact that he's Russian has a little to do with it, Though as I've tried to indicate, he understands nearly everything his siblings say, particularly what James says to him. However, what really causes it is a serious trauma in his past central to the plot and his character development. _

* * *

**TOS TIME**

James was most certainly _not_ a morning person. And even morning people tended to be rather groggy after being up past midnight **[1]****.**

So when he woke up the next morning (at 6:30, as he inevitably did. Ah, the joys of being on a fixed circadian schedule or whatever it was thanks to high school), he was extremely bleary. There was one thought that was in his head: breakfast. Checking the alarm clock on his bedside table (which he hadn't set for this morning, having been too tired the night before), he realized that there was a possibility… if he moved fast enough…

Imagining the reward which waited for him should he be able to pull this off took the grogginess right out of his mind. Quickly, he leapt out of bed and, still in his pajamas, tiptoed down the hall as quickly as he could without making any noise. As soon as he reached the stairs, he turned around and eyed the two neat lines of doors to his and his brothers' bedrooms. No sign of movement on any front. He was not being followed, then. Still, he wasn't about to slow down. Taking the stairs two by two, he all but flew down to the first floor. Of course, he went as quietly as was humanly possible as well. James was grateful that Hikaru had forcibly included him in his "ninja" lessons a few years ago back when he'd been on that ninja-obsession stage.

As soon as the seventeen-year-old reached the first floor, he took a sharp turn and made a beeline to the kitchen. He was home free now! The object of his mission was within his grasp! Finally, after countless tries, he would really do it this time! Quickly and quietly opening one cabinet, he opened his prize, nabbed a bowl from another cabinet, and-

"Oh no you don't, mister!"

…Older brothers always ruined the fun. Saying that, one could add that Leonard, James' oldest brother, ruined the fun exponentially more. As a medical student (about to get his degree), Leonard knew more about health and wellness of his charges (in this case his brothers) than the average caretaker. Thus, he tended to be harsh on behaviors considered unhealthy. And not just harsh, either. Oh no, he knew how to properly defend his position on issues regarding unhealthy choices too. Such as the one James had been attempting to engage in.

"Aww, Len!" James whined. He'd been so damn close! Besides, opportunities to needle Leonard without setting a bad example for the younger ones didn't come often. "Just this once?"

"My rules are my rules," Leonard replied, taking the box of sugary cereal from James. Judging from the slightly smug look on his face, Leonard had been expecting his younger brother (which would explain how quickly he'd gotten here without being detected by James) and had even been hoping for him to try to snag some cereal.

"No cereals with that much sugar during the week," the blue-eyed young man continued, putting the cereal back into the cupboard.

"Just this once?"

"No, Jim. On weekends, and that's it. You can have some fruit and a slice of whole grain bread. That's a healthy breakfast." **[2]**

"But you don't want to be a wet blanket, do you? Because only wet blankets don't let their younger brothers eat sugary cereal!"

"Rules are rules, Jim."

"Wet blanket!"

"I'm a medical student, not a wet blanket. And I don't care what you call me, you're not getting cereal."

"Is something going on in here?" a new voice asked. Both brothers turned to see James' twin brother standing at the foot of the staircase. Unlike James, who was a total mess and still in his pajamas, he was fully dressed (wearing black pants, black boots, and a blue t-shirt, as he pretty much always did, no matter what the weather). His dark hair was combed as neayly as ever, with not so much as one air out of place. It even looked like he had washed his face.

"Morning, Spock," James said with a grin. Seeing his twin brother always made him happy, even though the other teen had put him to shame in the dressing department. He was used to it by now.

"Good morning, James. Good morning, Leonard," Spock cordially greeted his brothers.

"Mornin', Spock," replied Leonard grudgingly. For some reason, he and Spock didn't get along well at all. James suspected part of it was the fact that they rather enjoyed arguing. Why this was eluded James, but their spats were rather fun to watch sometimes.

"It would seem I have walked in on a disagreement," the newcomer continued in a disapproving tone. He, being a very stoic individual, was none too fond of emotional displays, preferring instead logic. It didn't mean he didn't have any emotions, like poor Data from next door, though.

"Sugar cereal argument," Leonard responded tersely. Spock nodded, clearly unable to find anything to argue with in that statement, and gave his twin brother a pointed look. It was obvious he needed to disapprove of _something _before his morning could be considered complete.

"James, it is completely illogical to return this argument, as you have already made it several times this month alone," Spock chided. "Judging by your lack of success, it would be far more logical to, for lack of a better phrase, give up."

"Ugh," James sighed. Spock raised one eyebrow at this pointless and illogical sound and sat down at the table. For an individual obsessed with logic and constantly wondering why he of all people had been born into such an illogical family, Spock could be so odd.

"How about you get us some breakfast, Jim?" Leonard asked, returning to themore pertinent matter.

"No sugar cereal?"

"Ha. You must be kidding."

James nodded in response. He knew when enough was enough regarding Leomard, which his younger brothers unfortunately didn't.

"Multi-grain bread and a fruit for each of us, right?" the boy asked.

"Mm-hmm."

James walked into the kitchen and opened their bread cabinet. He grabbed the multi-grain bread, sliced six pieces of medium thickness, and smartly closed the cabinet door.

"Spock doesn't want one," James explained, sensing Leonard's question before it was formed as he grabbed a plate for each of them. Leonard turned to his younger brother, who nodded to affirm James' statement. Leonard sighed. The two practically had a telepathic link sometimes, knowing exactly what the other was feeling or even thinking without exchanging a single word. Well, they WERE twins.

"'Morning, everyone!" called a voice from the stairwell.

"Scotty!" James and Leonard called at the same time to greet their brother. The second-eldest brother, wearing a grin on his face, walked in and plunked himself down at the breakfast table. Like James, the older brother was also in his pajamas.

"Good morning, Montgomery," said Spock, formal as ever.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. I like my nickname exponentially better than my real one," Scotty chided his younger brother, annoyance creeping into his formally-cheerful voice.

"I'm guessing you don't mean 'Monty Python,'" quipped James. Scotty smirked at the thought. No, he didn't like _that_ particular nickname for himself, but it _was_ rather funny.

"The nickname 'Scotty' is most illogical," Spock contined as he took a bite out of the pear he opted to eat for breakfast. As soon as he finished chewing and swallowing, he added "There is no basis for your nickname. Therefore-"

"It is illogical. I've heard this a thousand times," Leonard groaned. Scotty grunted in agreement as he bit into his bread.

"Good morning!"

Every head turned (except Spock's) to see who was going to join them this time. As it turned out, they were being joined by two of their brothers: Hikaru and Kevin, who wore identical grins as they marched down the stairs. James automatically looked for Pavel, who often followed the other two into all manner of mischief, but didn't see him. He must've still been sleeping. A twinge of guilt went through him, considering how it was his fault that Pavel was going to be tired today.

"Hey guys," Scotty greeted the two. Hikaru grinned in response and sat down, while Kevin held one hand up before plopping down next to Hikaru. "Can we have sugar cereal?" was the next thing out of his mouth.

Leonard sighed, evidently tired of the question already.

"No," he replied, taking on a stern tone. He was much more of an authoritative figure for the younger ones than for James, Spock, and Scotty. The younger ones were in many ways the hardest ones to control. Well, James was hardly easy either! "No sugar cereal on weekdays."

Kevin looked at him pleadingly, while Hikaru started up his own pleading. "C'mon! Just this once?"

"No."

"You never let us do anything fun," complained Kevin.

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"What about the fact that I let you watch TV during the week?"

"Only boring stuff, like documentaries."

In the midst of the argument, Pavel entered. He smiled at James, who grinned back, before traipsing into the kitchen. No one besides the aforementioned James noticed. Well, considering they hadn't even noticed he'd been there in the first place, one can't really blame them.

"Please can we have sugar cereal?" Hikaru begged.

"Just this once?" Kevin echoed Hikaru's earlier plea.

"No!" Leonard snapped.

"Meanie," groused the eleven-year-old.

"Kathryn lets her family eat sugar cereal all the time!" Hikaru pointed out.

"Jean-Luc almost never allows sugar cereal," Leonard countered.

"Yeah, but he's mean," Kevin declared.

"He's not mean, he just tries to deal with his family in his own way," Leonard defended the eldest boy of the family next door, who had garnered something of a reputation for being a tad strict.

"Hey!" Scotty suddenly cried. Unnoticed by all, Pavel had returned. In his hands was a bowl full of sugary cereal. On his face was a look of complete innocence. However, James could see the gleam of mischief in his dark eyes. Under his gentle, naive exterior, he was just as tricky as Kevin or Hikaru. Most of the time, he got away with it, unlike the other two. Leonard, for all his authority, couldn't keep a lid on him at all.

"Pavel, you know the rule," Leonard prompted him. It wasn't as though he didn't try to keep him under control! "Put that back." Pavel turned his wide-eyed gaze on Leonard.

"Aww, c'mon. Let the kid go," James suggested. "Its not as though he does it all the time!" It was technically true: Pavel had never tried this yet. No, his mischief was of a different brand.

"He'll be spoiled as hell by the time he's ten if we keep this up," growled Leonard to himself. How did the kid get away with so much anyway? Aloud, he sighed and said, "fine. Eat the damn cereal."

_I need to have that cabinet padlocked,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

**TNG TIME (Author's brief note**_: skip this if you don't know TNG. That is, if you want. Wouldn't be missing too much if you ask me)_

Next door, a similar situation was occurring under the roof of home number 1701-D.

"C'mon, just let me have sugary cereal this once?"

"No!"

"But I'm a junior!" Will complained. "I bet Jim and Kathryn get sugary cereal all the time!" His blue eyes looked pleasingly into his older brother's stern grey eyes. **[3]**

"I happen to know that pigs will fly before Leonard lets his younger brothers eat sugary cereal on weekends," Jean-Luc's gaze didn't soften a fraction. "And Kathryn is entirely too lenient on her family." Unlike Leonard, who was able to have some control over his younger siblings on health-related issues, Jean-Luc was a strict and sufficiently controlling caretaker in all aspects. And he never let the younger kids off, no matter how much they pleaded.

"Aw, come on! You must be tired from cooking us breakfast and dinner every day," Will was changing his tactics and Jean-Luc could tell. His younger brother had a charming smile on now, though his eyes remained just as pleading. His tone changed from begging to wheedling in an instant. Once again, Jean-Luc wasn't won over. He'd been all but a parent to Will and his other siblings since he'd been fifteen and had learned to read their body language excellently.

Suddenly, Geordi came barreling into the kitchen where the two were disagreeing. Somehow, he managed to avoid tripping on the threshold between the rooms.

"I saw Leonard let Pavel eat sugar cereal!" cried the eleven-year-old excitedly. Jean-Luc sighed. His adopted little brother had a somewhat embarrassing habit of spying on the neighbors at #1701. Often, he and Data would peek through the windows and watch whatever might have been going on at the time. The two houses had just enough proximity that occupants could see through the windows of the living rooms and kitchens. Jean-Luc really didn't understand children in spite of having several siblings and barely being more than what he considered a child himself.

"As did I," agreed Data as he walked in. His bright, clear yellow eyes took in the scene in the kitchen before added "I, unlike Geordi, can see clearly."

Geordi scowled and adjusted his thick glasses. Although he could see, he was considered blind for all intents and purposes. It caused his older siblings endless worry, but strangely enough, he was the least clumsy one in the family. Whether this was luck or something else, no one could tell.

"Go on," Jean-Luc prompted.

"Pavel was in fact able to eat sugar cereal," Data declared.

Jean-Luc walked quickly over to the door and threw it open, then looked intently at the sky.

"What're you doing?" Will asked.

"Checking to see if there are any flying pigs I should be aware of," Jean-Luc replied weakly.

Data continued as soon as Will stopped laughing hysterically. His brother cracked few jokes (because there was no way he'd been serious there, right?), so Will found the few he did utterly hilarious considering the source.

"However, as it appeared as though he gained his bowl of sugary cereal through a subterfuge of some sort, judging from Leonard's frustration, I do not believe it would have any bearing upon your decision, Jean-Luc."

"You weren't s'posed to say that bit!" Geordi complained.

"Thank you, Data," Jean-Luc closed the door and stepped back in to the kitchen. "Now that we've cleared up that ridiculous issue, I'll be making breakfast. Number One, if you will help me."

Will, grinning at Jean-Luc's nickname for him, one of the few affectionate gestuskis lights part, and followed his older brother to the kitchen. Much like Spock and James from next door, Will and Jean-Luc were vastly different in both appearance and mannerisms, but shared a bond remarkably tight even for siblings.

"I'm tired of deciding our meal. Worf is _such _a picky eater," complained Jean-Luc. It was true: the teenager rejected most foods the rest of his family ate as "for wimps".

"Omelets?" Will hazarded. "With mushrooms**[4]**?" Omelets were one of the the few things Worf liked that everyone else would eat.

"You and your mushrooms," Jean-Luc sighed yet again. "Very well. Make it so."

"You and your speech patterns," Will echoed him, tone far more teasing.

"…Oh, Will. What will I do with you?"

* * *

**[1] **I speak from experience here.

**[2] **This is what I got too on weekdays. However, unlike James, I actually enjoyed it. As you can tell, I've added a bit of myself into this ^^.

**[3] **I've heard Jean-Luc Picard's (and by extension Patrick Stewart's) eyes described as everything from grey to hazel to even green. Which one are they, dangit?!

**[4] **This is actually a reference to an inside joke I share with a friend of mind regarding Riker. Don't ask me where it came from :).

**Author's note: **_Well what did you think? Be honest and please review; I love hearing from my readers. _


	3. Chapter 3

**A walk to school**

**AUthor's note: **_I'm so sorry about being late, guys! I had an incredibly busy week and barely had time to write. And I felt like rushing a chapter out for the Friday deadline wouldn't be my best work. So yeah…I'm sorry._

_When__ I look back at this chapter, I realize it devolved into angst about Data and Pavel really really quickly. Which makes this a good time to warn people: this story isn't under humor for a reason. Yeah, it's funny now, but just wait… Though I wouldn't worry too much; it stays funny for a really long time._

_On another note, a very important character will be introduced this chapter. I really struggled with him at first, but he's honestly the easiest to write ^^. Tell me what you think after reading. _

_And now, for the responses to my lovely reviewers. _

**KatiaSwift: **_Sure, call me Zell. I used it before I wrote TOS Truth or Dare!, but that's when I adopted it as my official FFN nickname. _

_And I'm glad you've liked it so far! The sugary cereal debate was really fun to write as well as to read. I haven't had a debate like that, though. For me it was pop tarts when I was in the first grade. Good thing mom let me have them on Friday; kept the debating to a minimum ^^. I hope you like the rest of it as much as you've liked this and hope to get another review from you in the future. _

**Hermione-of-Vulcan: **_Thank you so much for liking the TNG characters. Originally, they weren't even in it. I only added them in after seeing the first episode of TNG last January. Yeah, this story's been in the works for a long time… the entire story's a tad long to be posted here though…_

_Thanks for also liking the sugary cereal. And the TNG characters. AlthouHG Data's fifteen, not eleven. Sorry about the confusion. And he still hgoldeneye golden eyes. _

_ You got some of the characterizations for the VOY characters right. I plan for them to make their grand appearance next chapter. _

**Susan Hilton: **_Don't worry, I know that. Just making them related for the sake of this story. Don't expect that from me outside the ASTCE verse. And the Data's cat thing had me a little confused at first. I wonder why they did that?_

**Trekkie2: **_Ouch! Glad you're taking the time to read this in spite of all that going on. and I hope it gets better sooner rather than later. And I hope you like this chapter too. _

**Chrissi: **_Thanks! And I'm glad you liked that I had good grammar. I do my best on that One; it's a little hard when I write all my fics on a phone… Anyways, thank you!_

_And now. Onward!_

* * *

"Thank god you guys can walk to school," Leonard called as his younger siblings (save Scotty) walked down the street to school. "It takes a lot of burden off me!"

"Just shut it and say goodbye!" James shouted back. Leonard smirked and waved before slamming the door shut.

In spite of the fact that it was a mere ten minutes away on foot, Leonard made sure to send his siblings off half an hour or more school began for the high schoolers. Even though Kevin and Pavel were still in elementary school, they went as well. Theoretically, that meant James, Hikaru and Spock could keep them from getting too distracted and ensuring they arrived on time. However, even Spock sometimes tended to stray off. There were just so many interesting things to see and do on the way to school!

"James!"

James turned around to see Will leading his younger siblings out the door. He grinned widely in response and waved as the other boy jogged up to stand next to him. The rest of his siblings soon joined him, naturally falling into step next to James' brothers. Pavel, however, sidestepped Geordi, who had taken Reginald's sleeve and was dragging him towards Hikaru, to walk next to James and Will. The two were best friends, and neither minded when Pavel (or any of the other siblings) decided that they were much more interesting than the others. **[1]**

"So. Did Leonard _really_ let you have sugary cereal, Pav?" Will asked, brilliant blue eyes landing on the seven-year-old. Geordi's story and Data's verification had made him curious to hear the story firsthand. Well, perhaps see the story was a better way of describing it. Like James, Will had come to understand Pavel's form of communication was visual rather than auditory and wondered once again why the little boy was mute.

Pavel nodded to his earlier question, a bright smile forming on his lips. He was clearly proud of having pulled off this latest feat of openly defying Leonard and getting away with it. James could tell he didn't do such things to be malicious. Pavel didn't have a malicious bone in his body.

"Awesome," Will declared, tone admiring. "Wish I could get away with that without Jean-Luc skinning me alive."

James laughed. He'd heard many a story of Will's older brother through the years. Enough to know that while skinning was not a possible punishment, whatever he did decide on for punishment would not be pretty.

"So. Anything unusual going on with you today?" Will asked, shifting the conversation away from his brother.

"Nope. No tests, no dates, no project-sh*t!" James swore suddenly, remembering the Chemistry group quiz **[2] **he had third period. Pavel clapped his hands over his ears as Leonard often did before swearing (Pavel still heard everything) and gave James a mock-scolding look.

"James, swearing in front of our younger siblings is not a good idea," Spock interrupted his conversation with Data and looked sternly at his brother from slightly behind him.

"Eh, its not as though they haven't heard it before," he replied. "And I'm sure Jean-Luc's siblings have too. Right, Data?"

"Jean-Luc prefers French obscenities to English," Data pointed out. "However, I believe the translation is approximately the same." **[3]**

"I hate to think what his French teacher was like," snickered Will as they turned on to another street. Pavel giggled, and James smirked before he remembered how the conversation came about.

"I'm gonna fail the Chemistry quiz," he groaned. "I don't even remember what it's on."

"Karma SUCKS!" crowed Kevin from behind them. Apparently he'd been listening.

"You're right, Kevin. Karma sucks. I should've stayed home and studied."

Spock raised an eyebrow at his brother's admission. At his side, Data's yellow eyes calmly took in the scene before he turned back to Spock and commented on his recent interest in Sherlock Holmes. James, seeing both gestures out of the corner of his eye, stopped listening to Will's half-hearted attempts to cheer him up and let his thoughts wander to Data.

The slightly younger boy was an excellent friend for Spock, in James' opinion. Although he was not an official member of the Club of Stoic Children, Data had remarkable control of his emotions and maturity beyond that of regular fifteen-year-olds. Of course, he was hardly a normal fifteen-year-old. Aside from having the exact same shape as his siblings, he was hardly even a normal human.

Although the estimate was harsh, it was unfortunately true. Data was unaffected by this fact, just posited theories about why he was as he was. After all, normal humans didn't have skin which made Snow White look like she'd been hitting the tanning booth. Normal humans didn't have pale yellow eyes which, in spite of their calm and mildly curious expression, still disconcerted people. Normal humans didn't have absolutely no capacity for emotion.

The last made him the (secret) envy of every member of the Club of Stoic Children, although none would willingly trade places with him. Data had paid dearly for the deadened feelings inside him. Exactly how wasn't clear, but James suspected that it had to do with the reason he had no family and that no one had known he existed until someone had gone to visit some town out in the middle of nowhere and found him as the only living soul in the place. Questioning him about what had happened got nowhere, as he could remember nothing of his childhood either. The lack of memory or emotions stood out just as clearly as Pavel's silence did. Both were coping with a trauma that no one else could know.

James wondered if Pavel really could speak, just chose not to for some reason. Or if there was some psychological block to talking and that the boy was as determined to speak as Data was to regain both his memories and emotions. He wished he could help Pavel in particular, though helping Data wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing either.

Suddenly, Pavel yelped, drawing James out of his thoughts. He turned to see the child clutching his head as though he'd been struck. James opened his mouth to ask him-only to be cut off by a shout of indignation from Will.

"Acorns!" he cried in complaint.

"What? Are you trying out new swear word substitute or something?" James asked him as Pavel tride to get his attention. It wouldn't be the first time Will found creative substitutes for swears to avoid arousing Jean-Luc's ire.

"Acorns!" Kevin echoed gleefully. He loved repeating swear words or anything remotely like a swear word substitute in front of Leornard. It was one of the few things that could truly get James into trouble.

"No, no. I was just hit in the back of the head by an acorn, that's all," Will replied.

"Acorns!"

"Kevin! What do you mean, Will?" James turned his attention away from annoying brother extraordinaire and back to his friend.

"I mean exactly that!"

"Took you slowpokes long enough," a smug voice echoed from the tree above them. The tree Pavel happened to be pointing at. James and Will looked up, eliciting a groan from the latter upon seeing the boy perched above them.

"Q," he sighed.

"Congratulations, you know the alphabet," the other boy clapped sarcastically as he said this. "I guess my cousin's only an idiot sometimes rather than all the time."

Behind them, Will's brother Worf growled. He did not like his cousin at all.

"Oh, shut up, you," Q snapped.

"I said nothing, and would say nothing to _you,_" Worf declared coldly.

"You just did."

Worf growled again but said nothing. Katherind **[4]**, his sister, shook her head and drew his focus away from the older boy.

"Why the acorns?" James asked. He wasn't quite as annoyed by Q as his cousins were, although he hardly liked the boy. There was something…off about him. Besides the fact that he was older than Jean-Luc but looked younger than Worf, of course. And the fact that he sometimes appeared even younger or older.

"Because I felt like it," replied Q carelessly.

"But why _acorns? _You're in an apple tree."

Suddenly, an acorn sailed through the air and hit James squarely in the forehead. Pavel clenched one small hand into a fist and gave Q a glare that would he imagined would send even Worf running to mommy (not that he had one. Perhaps his birth mother was still alive, but his adoptive mother certainly wasn't). However, it just managed to make him look cute as hell.

"Who cares what it is? I certainly don't," Q shot back and thre an acorn squarely at Spock.

"It would be logical to run," Spock pointed out. "Quickly."

And so they all did, for the duration of their trip to school. Even Worf ran, although he would've preferred punishing Q for his crime.

Strangely enough, the volley of acorns continued long after Q should have been out of range.

* * *

**[1]** I only say this because I have a few friends who keep their siblings out of their hair as much as possible and get annoyed if those sibling take part in activities with their other friends. I'm sometimes included in that *embarrassment emoticons which I am unfamiliar with.*

**[2] **I'm not entirely sure if anyone else has group quizzes at their school, so here's the explanation. The teacher assigns partners and they work on one quiz together. It can be rough depending on the partner you get.

**[3] **Jean-Luc isn't French. He just took the class in school and found he had a remarkable skill in using it. I wonder why… ;)

**[4] **Welcome to the story, Katherine Pulaski. I'm not completely sure her name's spelled this way…

_I feel like the ending was a cop-out… oh well. Please review!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Worming out of a chemistry quiz**

**AUthor's note: **_My muse is still gone. I can't believe I actually wrote a chapter without her (thus, I am sorry once again about the late update; I really try). Evil thing. However, lots of chapters considerably later in the story are practically writing themselves._

_I unfortunately have never taken Chemistry, so there is no course material written in for James' quiz. And a few of the VOY characters finally make their appearance. I'm really sorry about the delay, but they're proving to be remarkably hard to write. _

_If there are any suggestions for this story, I want to hear them. _

_And now, for the responses to my lovely reviewers. You people are amazing._

**Anonymous: **Hermione-of-Vulcan's sister? Awesome! That's so funny, how coincidences work…lord, do I love coincidences. It's one of my weirder quirks. Oh, and thank you for your kind words. I'll try to add more of the VOY characters. _  
_

**Hermione-of-Vulcan: **I was surprised at how easy and in character he was when I wrote Q. I usually struggle with characterization, but now, in future chapters I'm thinking through (thinking it is easy, but writing it is a pain), he's appearing a lot.

Yes, Data's backstory will become clear. I hinted at it a bit lat chapter, but it's hardcore angst. So is Pavel's. Oh, poor, poor Pavel.

**Trekkie2: **How did you possibly guess? That's exactly what happens! And Pavel WILL start talking. Much, much later. Kathryn Janeway appears in this chapter. I was worried people would confuse them. Which one should I call Katie?

**Susan Hilton: **14th of October? I'm writing it on my calendar if that is indeed so! Not quite on theory about the mutism. In earlier drafts of the first chapter, he talked. This just makes it a little interesting. And he still is a bit communicative. In his own way.

About the different eras? Yeah, this requires a lot of willing suspension of disbelief. It's just a melding of two ideas I had: one was a high school AU and another was when all the characters from the different show were interacting. It makes for a story.

_Engage, warp factor nine! (translation: let's read)__  
_

* * *

First Period passed. For James, that meant struggling through music for forty-five minutes (fifty-five if you counted morning announcements). When he tried to sneak some notes for Chem which he'd found floating around at the bottom of his backpack, the conductor had caught him and had given him a round scolding before forcing him to return the notes to his backpack.

"Busted," muttered Tasha **[1]**, his rumored-to-be-a-homeless-delinquent stand partner.

"I bet you know the feeling," he replied teasingly.

"Oh, shut it, you."

Second period passed. For James, this meant real worry started to set in about his quiz. Until then, it just hadn't hit home that he might fail the quiz. However, the drama teacher was able to distract him.

"Stop yelling, James!" she criticized his performance. "And quit speaking…like this! As though…you…don't know your lines." **[2]**

James nodded, having heard this particular criticism more times than he could count. He tried again, but with his mind on the quiz, he was unable to.

Then came third period. Then came Chemistry.

"Janice, draw a name," the teacher instructed. The blonde girl complied, sticking her hand in the hat the teacher offered to draw the name of her partner on the group quiz.

Two desks away from her, James frantically tried to remember something, /anything/, that they'd been studying. He knew it was his fault for not studying last night. He'd totally forgotten, having done all the rest of his work in spite of having a date. But somehow, this had slipped his mind. And now he couldn't remember anything. He silently wished Spock were here, as his stoic twin was excellent at anything scientific. Alas, Spock had chosen to take AP Chemistry, and James was only in Honors **[3]**. Besides, Spock probably wouldn't try to help him remember, seeing as he had a devotion to following rules like no other. Perhaps he would make an exception in his twin's case, but he probably wouldn't.

Janice had drawn a name and quickly moved off to start the quiz with her partner. Now James' neighbor, Garth, was up for name-drawing. He pulled a name out of the hat and read it. James, so engrossed in trying to get his act together, didn't notice. Nor did he care. Garth wasn't exactly a friend of his.

"James, draw a name."

The teacher was right in front of him, holding out the hat of death and doom. James took a deep breath and, hoping he didn't have to work with anyone else who hadn't studied, took the name out of the hat.

Kathryn. That was the name on the paper.

"But Kathryn's not here today," James began. He hadn't seen her earlier in the music class they took together.

"I'm here. Don't worry; I was just late."

James turned around to see her standing just behind her desk **[4]**. Apparently, she'd known she was his partner when he mentioned her name. James never failed to be impressed by how astute of a listener she was.

He turned to his teacher, who handed him the sheet for the quiz. Mindful of Kathryn's approach, he pulled the desk Garth had so kindly vacated next to his own and set the chemistry quiz down.

"Kathryn, I have a confession to make."

"Spill."

"I didn't study."

"Good thing I did."

Unlike Spock, Kathryn was willing to help him, even if he didn't deserve it. She was one of James' best friends, and one of the few girls James would not under any circumstances date.

"What would I do without you?" he asked her hypothetically.

"Fail the quiz?"

"Ha."

Kathryn got to work fairly quickly, James watching her and occasionally trying to help (even if he hadn't studied, it was the right thing to do), but she would silence him and keep working.

"So why were you late today?" James asked. Kathryn flipped the paper over and started answering the back.

"Harry and Seven had washed the car last night."

"On a week night?"

"Seven wouldn't let it go. She kept on about how a dirty Delta Flyer was not up to a standard of perfection or something like that. Anyways, turns out they washed the engine too." **[5]**

Unlike the families from 1701 and 1701-D, Kathryn's family lived on the other side of town, and although it would only take twenty minutes or so to walk, they preferred to drive. See, Kathryn knew all about the distractions of walking to school, and, unlike Leonard or Jean-Luc, figured it would be better to avoid them.

"Ouch!"

"Only Tom was upset. The way he acted, you'd think they killed his girlfriend." **[6]**

"He doesn't have one."

"He needs one, though." Kathryn did another problem.

"So you walked to school," James guessed.

"Correction: we ran."

James smiled. Kathryn's usually neatly-done hair was indeed a little askew. He idly took a copper lock of her hair to put behind her ears, but she smacked his hand away before he got a chance to.

"There. Done," she had finished the quiz.

"Wow," he marveled. She'd gone quite quickly through the work.

"Tuvok helped me study," she explained as she waved the teacher over. James nodded in understanding. Tuvok was a great deal like Spock, and it would make sense that he helped his slightly older sister study.

"How can I ever thank you?"

"I'll get back to you on that."

_Imagine the look on Spock's face when he finds out I wormed my way out of this one, _Kirk thought. Although he could pretty much guess that he would be as straight-faced and logical ever, perhaps he would raise his eyebrow. For him, that was about as expressive as he got.

Oh, to get an emotional reaction out of Spock. It was something he and Leonard constantly tried to do.

* * *

At that very moment, Spock sat in AP Chemistry wondering how his brother was doing.

Somehow, he doubted James would fail the quiz. James had an unusual talent of worming his way out of trouble, whether it was through charming, bluffing, or sheer luck. Whatever it was, it served the teenager well.

A small part of Spock privately hoped James would be able to do that again. James _was_ his brother, and, much as he preferred not to admit it, Spock preferred it when James remained out of trouble.

Oh, how very illogical emotions were. Particularly attachment of any kind.

* * *

**[1]:** Not Natasha Friedman. No, this is Tasha Yar, a character I can't help but like. Alas, there was such little characterization available for her in TNG I've struggled a little with her characterizations in earlier ideas for this fic.

**[2]: **I have nothing against William Shatner's acting style. I actually find it highly entertaining and perfect for the character of Kirk. Just had to include this.

**[3]: **I don't know about you guys, but in my school, there are three levels of classes: college prep (pretty tough), honors (in which we race through concepts), and AP (college level which takes over your life). I can see Spock in loads and loads of AP courses, even though the only people who do that at my school spend all their time studying. But of course Spock can handle it ;)

**[4]: **Welcome to the fic, ASTCE-verse Kathryn Janeway. Do you know how many times I've rewritten her dialogue here? Yeah, a lot. If anyone would be willing to constructively criticize it, you're more than welcome.

**[5]: **Originally, this was how thr VOY characters were going to be introduced: with their car broken down on the side of the road. James' family would then pick them up in a very crowded van. Sadly, I lost that draft of ASTCE months ago when all 133 of my unpublished stories were erased from my computer. Man, I was ticked off. But that didn't make much sense anyway. But really, does any of this story?

**[6]: **hermione-of-vulcan's fanfiction Dear fanfiction writers VOY style (check it out; it's absolutely hilarious and makes a point well) has one letter from Tom Paris jokingly (?) requesting a Tom Paris/Delta Flyer fic. Well, here it is. Sort of. *snickers* Don't worry, this is by no means one of the main couples (or even a couple at all) in this fanfiction. It's just a gag for now.

_So here it was. What did you think? Hope to hear from a lot of you!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Pavel and Harry**

**AUthor's note: **_Well, my muse is back. Kind of. Enough for me to write some of this chapter with slightly less difficulty. Still a lot though. _

_Perhaps the reason it was so easy was because of the major case of Pavel angstiness in this chapter. His backstory (which is hyper-charged with angst material) is hinted at, and I'd love to hear my readers' theories. Hint, hint…_

_Also, this is the first chapter in which James is not the main character for any of it and is only thought of in passing. Yup, our first major POV switch. Wow, this chapter really starts to get things going. A little._

_And now, for some review responses. I might move this story to another section, since no one seems to be reading it here… Any suggestions?_

_By the way, do people actually read these responses?_

**Hermione-of-Vulcan: **Well now, I've got an idea. Thanks for that idea about how James and Kathryn met. I'm definitely using that-if it's okay with you. And that bit about how they live on the other side of town wasn't even intentional. Lol, I'm being subconsciously influenced!

**KatiaSwift: **Glad you like her. And losing stories always sucks-this wasn't even the first time it happened to me either. Now I back up all my stories, even the crappy ones I'm too embarrassed to publish, by emailing the files to myself. Ever tried that?

**Susan Hilton:** Oh, too bad I missed it. I'll still mark my calendar for next year. And happy belated birthday to you and to Walter Koenig! And I'm glad you think it's cute.

**Trekkie2: **Thanks for the suggestion on the names-I'm definitely using that. And I did spell their names differently, but I wanted one to be Katie or Kate anyway.

* * *

Unlike the high schoolers or even the middle schoolers, the second graders got to enjoy recess.

A whole glorious hour of running around on the playground, talking freely to friends, and participating in other activities with the bare minimum of moderation by the teacher. To any child, it was Nirvana. Well, almost any child. For every rule, there is typically an exception.

Pavel watched his classmates' games quietly from the swings. He sat one one alone, legs dangling aimlessly to the ground, small hands gripping the chains the swing hung from, and soulful brown eyes watching his peers with interest. But he already knew he wouldn't be able to join them in their play, and strangely enough, this didn't upset him as much as it might upset others.

He knew his classmates thought he was weird because of his silence, and held it against him. Well, some of them, anyway. He was more than content in avoiding those who persisted in teasing him. It only hurt his feelings, though he was unaffected by them at the moment. Good thing, too. He had an explosive temper when provoked. **[1]**

James had spoken to him a great deal on this issue. As he pointed out, he'd been through it all. How glad Pavel was that he had a brother like that. He supposed it was James' knowledge that he subconsciously used when thinking about his peers, though perhaps it had traces of Spock's influence in it. Spock was also quite kind to him, although Spock would deny being kind and claim it was only logical to offer Pavel advice. Pavel smiled softly to himself. His older brothers were so awesome.

A few classmates probably wouldn't care if he joined them in play. He had a few allies in his grade who didn't care that he didn't talk to him. Martha, who sat in front of him in class and was in Pavel's opinion one of the prettiest girls he had ever known, had occasionally spoken up against the others when they'd bullied him. Irina, who sat to his right and occasionally gave him an appraising look, spoke to him every once in a while, not really expecting an answer but deciding it would be nice. And Harry was REALLY nice to him, even considering himself Pavel's best (and pretty much only) friend outside the family. He was adopted as well, although he was slightly more talkative.

Too bad he didn't see Harry right now. Even if he did, he probably wouldn't have joined him now. He sometimes had trouble simply playing. Oh, watching was no problem. Pranking his older siblings was no problem either, and spending time with his older siblings (especially James) was just natural to him. But playing with other kids his age was just a little tough for him.

Even so, it was easier for him to play now on the rare occasion that he was up for it and he could find kids willing to play. Once, he had had no problem. How long ago and how far away that seemed now. Two years ago, when he'd been in the orphanage, he hadn't seen much point in fun and games. His whole life had just come crashing down and the others expected him to play knights and wizards or whatever game they were playing? Besides, their shrieks of laughter would soon turn into shrieks of the dying…from Pavel's perspective, anyway. The flames kept rising in his mind, consuming them, and all they could do was scream-

Pavel put his hands over his ears and screwed his eyes shut as tightly as he could. Somehow, _it _had appeared to him during the day. That hadn't happened for three months. The nightmares still bothered him, though. But that was why James had a room right next door to his, right? So that if he had a particularly bad nightmare and started screaming or crying, James could hear him and wake him up. And he never failed to do so, no matter how deep in sleep he was **[2]**.

James. What a brother he had. A brother who would drop anything if Pavel needed him. Who was more than willing to beat people senseless if they bothered his littlest brother. Pavel would gladly return the favor, if he weren't so small. Oh, how satisfying it would be. He could almost hear someone insulting James and he himself standing up to defend his brother's honor, punching the defenseless twit like no tomorrow **[3]**.

Pavel shook his head to clear it once more. Like James, he often suffered from these odd flashes which made absolutely no sense. For some reason, they fit, however. He didn't think he was crazy because of what he saw. If anything, as his favorite cousin would tell him while she was still alive, he would've been crazy to try to repress them. He'd had these visions for as long as he could remember, and he had told her about his more interesting ones. He'd still been talking then, and what a little chatterbox he'd been!

Antonia would've been seventeen now. Just like James was.

_Don't think of Antonia!_ a voice screamed in his head. He closed his eyes again tightly and willed the thoughts away. By now it was second nature to shove any thoughts of her or basically anything else along those lines out of his conscious mind. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism of sorts.

"Pavel?"

Pavel turned to the right to see that Harry **[4]** was sitting on the swing next to him, a curious expression on his face. Who knew how long he'd been there? The Russian boy smiled, using his greatest asset to try and direct Harry's attention away from whatever he'd seen, if anything.

Harry, meanwhile, decided he had no choice but to buy it. He could tell something was still bothering Pavel, but realized that as Pavel's best friend, his duty was to distract the other boy as best he could. And there was one way he knew that was sufficient to distract anyone.

"Want me to show you something, Pavel?" Harry asked. Receiving an affirmative nod from the other boy, Harry pulled his plastic recorder out of his jacket. Although he wanted a clarinet and continuously asked for one for Christmas or for his birthday, he had yet to get one and had to settle with a cheap plastic recorder. Even so, he was getting good with handling it. But that didn't mean he didn't enjoy squawking his heart out on it, producing earsplitting shrieks that were even capable of distracting people from Neelix's dreadful cooking.

Harry also used it particularly well to annoy his big sister Katie into getting him a real clarinet, or at the very least a wooden recorder. She had yet to give in, though. She was very hard to beat in a battle of sheer willpower. Harry hadn't given up, though. He knew he was going to get a real clarinet someday, just wished he could get it sooner.

Now, though, he was holding the recorder and thinking of it not as a tool to annoy siblings or as the clarinet he wanted. He thought of it as a way to help his friend, and decided to play his own rendition of 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' to achieve that end. He even kept all the shrieking out of it, just to cheer Pavel up. It seemed to work, as Pavel relaxed as Harry played.

And so the two boys sat on the swing set. Away from their peers and happier for it. Perhaps being an onlooker is lonely as one, but it sure isn't as two.

* * *

**[1]: **So far, I have mentioned Pavel's temper twice in ASTCE-related fics. I feel so far as if I don't have enough evidence to back it up. Don't worry, that'll come.

**[2]: **This goes out on a limb a bit on characterization, I know, but this is what I imagine a true captain would do. And James might be only seventeen, but he's still an AU counterpart of one of the greatest captains of all time.

**[3]: **I know that this didn't exactly happen in the episode (name which one I mean if you want a cookie. A virtual one, that is), but I can imagine Pavel sees himself as a hero even when he has a slightly smaller part in the conflict. Correct me if I'm wrong. ^.^

**[4]: **Harry Kim! Yay! I have absolutely no clue how to characterize him. Please correct me if he seems OOC.

_Once again, I love to hear from my reviewers. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Lunch**

**AUthor's note: **_Another kinda uninteresting chapter, but after this there's only one more set-up chapter, and then we'll have a slightly more interesting story. Though this one was easier to write. Perhaps because this was in the original draft the fourth chapter (and the last one I'd had written before I lost the whole thing. _

_This one introduces some plot elements and shows off the social order at the school…sort of. And it features my first real use of profanity ever on FFN. I typically don't swear, but this just worked. Don't get used to it._

_One last thing to note: I have the next chapter as a pretty big time skip compared to the past chapters. Unless people want more of their school days now I'll be putting that up next. Don't worry, the school days show up again later on. I think. _

_So the theme for the reviews this time around is 'whether or not I should move the fic to TOS/TNG or TOS/VOY crossover space or not.' And now I'll respond to the lovely reviewers. It's always the same people; I'm touched at how you guys are sticking with the story in spite of its flaws._

**Susan Hilton: **Which is why writing Pavel's temper is so much fun to write, and so very endearing. You'll notice I stuck a small, subtle reference to "The Trouble With Tribbles" in the chapter-can you find it? And yes, I meant Harry Kim. Harry Mudd probably won't ever play a big part-I really don't know.

**Trekkie2: **Yep, you were right about what episode I was hinting at. It's one of my favorite episodes of TOS. And what did you mean about Antonia? She's not Uhura, just an OC with a currently negligible role in this fic.

**Hermione-of-Vulcan: **Yes, poor Pavel. I torture him too much, don't I? You know, that's a common pattern for me-looking through my fics, I notice I always give my favorite characters the hardest times. Which is why Pavel has so much angst, why Data has such a rough backstory, and why Jean-Luc's really going to have trouble later. And yes, "The Trouble with Tribbles" was the best episode ever. Oh, and you'll notice your suggestion a few chapters back about Neelix and Sugary cereal made in here.

**Janeway-or-the-highway: **Glad you're reviewing again! And you do much better than I do on consistent reviewing. And for now, Kathryn's Katie, though you'll see her be called Kathryn by a few sources. I occasionally slip up myself.

_Now, let's go. _

* * *

"And once again, James asked Leonard for sugar cereal," Spock explained.

"How very…illogical," T'Pol **[1]**, the stoic child seated to the right of Spock, exclaimed. Well, a normal person would exclaim. Her tone just rose slightly, then fell once more.

"Indeed," Stonn, another teenager eating at the table, agreed.

Listening to their conversation, it was hardly believable that these serious, logical people were teenagers. Or even humans. Yet every member of the Club of Stoic Children **[2]** was guilty of both offenses, though they did a pretty good job of hiding it.

Each day during lunch, the Stoic Children would all sit together at one of the many tables in the lunch room, eat their vegetarian lunches, and discuss logic, rationality, and their siblings.

"My sister gave my siblings sugar cereal," Tuvok spoke up.

"Illogical," Stonn immediately dismissed the argument.

"Irrational," T'Pring chimed in.

"No," Tuvok replied. "The alternative was to cook. To cook would be to invite Neelix to the stove, and as he always ends up taking over at that point, _not_ offering us sugar cereal is the least logical option."

All the Stoic Children shook their heads. Sampling Neelix's terrible cooking could even get a rise out of them in the form of violent retching.

"But what of offering you non-sugar cereal?" T'Pol suggested. "Would that not be the more logical choice?"

"Having sugary cereal is the only option to keep Neelix away from the stove."

"Ah," Spock nodded in understanding. Now _that_ was logical. For all his terrible cooking, Neelix was still a child. Meeting his demands halfway, similar to how Katie had dealt with Harry's request for a clarinet, was bound to cause disagreement and disappointment, but it was an acceptable solution.

Behind them, a shout of laughter rang out from one of the tables. Spock turned to see that it was James and his friends, loudly enjoying themselves as they always did. It seemed as though they were playing one of the most illogical games Spock knew: telephone **[3]**. Perhaps that was why Will and James were laughing, Kathryn **[4]** looked slightly put out (but amused), Deanna and Katherine were seemingly trying hard not to laugh, and Worf wore an expression of pure mortification on his face. Obviously, an innocent communication had been severely distorted, judging from their reactions, anyway. That was exactly why Spock found the game to be illogical: there was no real objective, in his eyes anyway.

"Illogical," T'Pau, one of the more highly-respected of the Stoic Children, declared.

"Indeed," agreed Tuvok.

And they proceeded to talk about logical fallacies in their siblings' arguments against them. Privately, Spock wished James would sit at this table, even if he only did once. It would greatly improve his capacity for logic, and perhaps it would gain Spock an ally against Leonard.

Which was only a logical thought. Not part of a nonexistent and very illogical fantasy of seeing how well Leonard would take the loss of his most supportive sibling in the endless conflict against his logical younger brother.

* * *

"I wish Spock would sit at our table sometime," James was declaring at exactly the same moment. "It would be a good thing for him. Perhaps he'd learn to loosen up a bit."

"Tuvok too," Katie agreed. "I might even be able to repay him for all he's taught me over the years." Her expression became thoughtful. Although Tuvok was a year younger than she was, he had a remarkable amount of knowledge and wisdom which he never hesitated to share with her.

"Don't worry about them," Deanna, a very emphatic sophomore who sat with them, suggested gently. "They wouldn't be content here as they are with more like-minded individuals."

"We'd probably make them short-circuit," agreed Will with a grin. "Sometimes I swear that that's what's happening to Data when he heard us talk."

"Kid just doesn't get it," groaned Katherine. She had a problem with Data for whatever reason, even harder to explain than Leonard and Spock's need to argue.

"He will," Will declared confidently. "I know he will. Just give him time to get past the short-circuiting phase."

"And judging someone as you do without him knowing is dishonorable," growled Worf.

"You say about half a billion things are dishonorable every day, Worf," Katherine sighed. "Soon enough I suppose everything will be dishonorable in some way."

"Including bitchy teenage sisters **[5]**," Will deadpanned. Deanna swatted him. Next to the two, Janice smirked. Barely a day went by without Deanna smacking her former boyfriend for something he said. Considering what typically came out of his mouth, no one blamed her.

"Hahaha," Katherine replied sarcastically. "Anyway, back to the Data issue. We've given him more than three years now to adapt and he hasn't been able to do it."

"Jean-Luc says it'll take time," Will argued, rubbing the shoulder Deanna had slapped absentmindedly as he spoke. He was an unusual person: he could go from teasing to serious within a minute's notice. "After all, we haven't exactly had it easy either and look how we are today."

"And I'm sure Jean-Luc would understand emotional issues like this," Katherine argued back, sarcasm dripping from her words once more. "He never once shed a tear when our parents died." **[6]**

"Which is exactly why he would understand this shell-shocked behavior."

"Which is exactly why he might not be right about this!"

"On the contrary, I believe Jean-Luc's refusal to give in to his emotions after the deaths of our parents was due to a need to retain his honor in front of us," Worf entered the conversation.

"Honor had nothing to do with it!" Katherine declared.

"I wonder what it's like at their dinner table," Katie whispered to James, who snickered.

"Where did he pick up all that honor stuff anyway?" Janice asked Deanna on the other side of the table.

"No clue," Deanna replied.

All in all, it was a regular lunch. And a loud one. Ah, to be a teen.

* * *

**[1]: **I've never seen ENT, so T'Pol as a background kiso around Spock will be the best I got for now.

**[2]: **Vulcans. I really couldn't think of anything better. It's really dumb, I know, but I'd be glad to hear suggestions.

**[3]: **AKA the game my friends and I play early three times a week. Ah, to be an illogical, immature high schooler.

**[4]: **Spock doesn't use nicknames, as previously noted in _Totally Illogical. _Hence the "Kathryn" here.

**[5]: **This is what Katherine Pulaski reminded me of a little throughout her run on the show. Maybe it's just me though.

**[6]:** Aaand there goes the angst. Yay. This actually has a logical explanation: I noticed every regular on TNG had at maximum one birth parent still alive on the show (not counting adoptions). Actually, this plot line in this story has the potential to become a prequel if I ever finish this story…

_Please review and thank you!_


	7. Notice

**Urgent notice**

Hi. Zell here. I've decided to take Hermione-of-Vulcan's kind suggestion to move ASTCE into the TOS/TNG crossover category. As it is, I feel as though nobody is reading this, and that was not why I put it on FFN. I'm a little dejected by that, and want to share it with more of the world. Thank you for your attention and I apologize for sounding whiny.

Enjoy the show!


	8. Chapter 7

**A night in town**

**AUthor's note: **_Alrighty, another chapter! This one might be the longest yet-I started writing and just couldn't stop. It also might be a slightly different chapter from any I have thus far written. I hope no one minds. _

_Remember the bit I had earlier about how easily angst snuck in? Well, I was writing about Data, meaning to just mention him in passing, and it happened again! Oh well, now I have a few ideas for later on in the story. _

_Besides the angst, an extended, somewhat creepy dialogue between Jean-Luc and Q crept in here. I look back on it a little sorry for Jean-Luc…_

_And the first bits of romance appear in here! Well, more like implied romance, but it's written for my OTP. I bet you can find it pretty clearly. Hint: it has to do with a newly introduced character. _

_Oh, and by the way, about all the story: I have the perfect last few chapters worked out, with lots of incidents throughout the year, but I just need to write filler and character development between then and now. I hope no one minds. _

_Oh dear, I talked too much. Here, I'll respond to reviews now:_

**Hermione-of-Vulcan:**_Thanks for reviewing! And the Stoic Kids are funny; I'm glad someone else agrees. And Katherine WILL start being nicer to Data later. And just nicer in general. Admittedly, she did start out mean, but developed as a character a bit. _

_Remember: in this, Data isn't an android. I'm not sure exactly how much I'll put him through, considering that he'd be a total angsty mess if he went through half as much as what he did in canon. Poor guy. I want to hug him too. Heck, pretty much EVERYONE on TNG needed a hug at some point or other._

_And also, I've moved it to TOS/TNG thanks to your suggestion. _

**Janeway-or-the-highway: **_I'll respond to both your reviews. First of all, I am glad you liked the Stoic kids. Second of all, you're right *shame*. I just had a minute of frustration there. Sorry. And I'm touched that you and your sister like this fic so much. My muse is finally returning, so I'll do my best to keep up the chapter a week. Thanks!_

**Anonymous: **_Glad you like it and hope you keep reading! Even if you don't watch TNG. __  
_

_And now. Ahead, warp factor nine. Engage! (I might've already used this one, but it's a Jean-Luc-centric chapter) _

* * *

It was late at night, but Jean-Luc couldn't sleep.

He had occasionally been troubled with these fits of insomnia through his life, typically after one of the disturbing events he'd been through. However, most nights consisted of peaceful sleep. Unless Q showed up. That damn prankster frustrated him to no end. Somehow, he knew how to push Jean-Luc's buttons like no one else could. Considering how often Jean-Luc lost his temper at his siblings, this was really saying something. Besides being downright annoying, there wasomething about Q that disturbed Jean-Luc to no end. Something wasn't right with that boy.

The twenty-three-year-old turned on his side to look through the window. What a beautiful night it was tonight, with the full moon out and the sky full of stars. Jean-Luc loved nights when the stars were bright. Oh, how often he had looked at them, wishing deeply that he could be up there away from all the problems where he was on earth. But sadly, that wasn't possible just yet. The technology just wasn't there **[1]**. Besides, how could he just leave his six (eight, if you counted Thomas and Ro-Laren) siblings alone to fend for themselves? Perhaps Will, Katherine, and Worf could do it, but Reg, Data, and Geordi? Hell no. Well, perhaps Reg could take care of himself. He _was _a child genius, after all. Geordi was just young, and Jean-Luc hardly trusted his siblings with caring for an eleven-year-old. Heck, he'd been looking after the others for eight years and barely trusted _himself_ to do a good job with them. And Data was like an emotional time bomb: endlessly moving towards the inevitable explosion.

The little Jean-Luc knew of his life, specifically facts relating to his brother who was supposedly a murderer, made his own look like a walk in the garden. Considering all he'd been through, that was really saying something. And Jean-Luc knew that whenever all these traumatic events caught up to his younger brother, he was really going to need emotional support. The fifteen-year-old had really grown on Jean-Luc, and it worried him to imagine what might happen when his memories and emotions surfaced, as they inevitably would.

Jean-Luc sighed. His thoughts kept roaming to troubling subjects, and that would never get him to go to sleep. He turned on his side once more, facing away from the window, and closed his grey eyes.

But after what felt like an eternity and was probably only five minutes, Jean-Luc was still wide awake. He opened his eyes again, deciding that having them closed was just about useless right now.

Perhaps he could look over some of his favorite plays by Shakespeare. The local theater was doing a production of Macbeth in November, and tryouts were in a week **[2]**. It would do no harm…had he not memorized the play cover to cover before he reached seventeen years of age. Besides, it was hardly something to be reading before bed. According to his siblings, anyway.

Frustrated by now with his sleeplessness, he climbed out of bed and started pacing the room. Although he was no longer in his teenage years, he was still quite young and, like James, tended to have quite a bit of energy. However, unlike James, he knew exactly how to channel it. Only problem was, how was he supposed to go outside at night? He couldn't just leave his siblings alone like that?

_Most of them are asleep,_ a voice in his head pointed out. _Parents leave their children alone all the time._

The voice sounded a little bit like Q. That was that. He was _not_ going outside. He didn't trust Q, and furthermore, he never had. There was something of about him, and it wasn't that he was almost definitely older than he looked. It wasn't that he was a troublemaker, either. No, Jean-Luc seriously had wondered if Q was even human. Not in the way Data was considered nonhuman, either. As though Q was only someone (or some_thing_) that _looked _human.

"Trouble sleeping, my dear cousin?"

Setting all those things aside, the main thing that made Jean-Luc mistrust Q was probably his strange way of appearing in Jean-Luc's bedroom at odd hours. Such as now. Jean-Luc hadn't heard him come in, but there he was, standing at the wall and smirking as though he were in on some big secret.

"What the HELL are you doing in here?!" Jean-Luc hissed, wanting to raise his voice but sure that he would wake the few of his siblings that were actually asleep up if he did. The only way he would ever yell while his siblings were asleep would be if he was outside and they wouldn't hear him.

"Visiting you," Q replied. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Creeping on me," Jean-Luc snapped, walking back to his bed and pulling the sheets over his head. "Go away; I'm trying to go to sleep."

"Which is what I'm here to help you with."

"I don't want your help. I want you to go away."

Q peeked under the sheets and grinned at his cousin, who was now even more disturbed. A smiling Q looked strangely like a shark.

"Or _you_ could go away," suggested the dark-haired boy, disturbing smile still on his face.

"No. Out of the question. I am not leaving my siblings here all by themselves," Jean-Luc replied. "And you are beginning to disturb me."

"Only beginning to?" Q's grin widened.

"Q! Leave me alone right now!"

"Temper, temper, dear cousin," Q scolded. "And you probably won't get to sleep until you go out and run or whatever you do."

"And leave my siblings alone. No," Jean-Luc pointed out.

"Oh, lighten up."

"Oh, f#%k off," Jean-Luc shot back.

"Now, now. You don't really mean that. And you really need a night out."

"And who, pray tell, will look after my siblings?"

"Me of course."

Jean-Luc scoffed. "Hah! As if."

"You can trust me."

"About as far as I can throw you."

"You'd be surprised at how far that would be. And I won't go away until you get some proper clothes on instead of those pajamas and leave."

"You'll be here all night."

"Good," Q smiled wider, leaning closer. "I will personally ensure you don't get to sleep."

Jean-Luc edged away from his cousin…and promptly fell off the bed. Q laughed hysterically (and quietly, for some reason) as Jean-Luc untangled himself from the sheets and cast his cousin an indignant look.

"See? You need to do this, or you'll keep waking up the wrong way," Q pointed out as soon as he finished cackling.

"Damn you," Jean-Luc growled and climbed up, dignity shaken but otherwise unhurt. "And I'm not going out tonight. No one could make me."

"Not even this?" Q asked, holding up Jean-Luc's phone. Once Jean-Luc saw the most recent text, so recent that the screen was still glowing, he groaned.

Now he would /have/ to go. He'd been unable to visit for many a night because of this exact dilemma of having his siblings to look after. He supposed he had to trust Q.

But it would only be this once.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Jean-Luc was jogging down the lamplit Main Street of Enterprise.

Q had stopped bothering him once Jean-Luc had made up his mind about the text and had thrown his cousin out so that he could change. He'd checked on his siblings (only one of whom was actually asleep, the rest either pretending or not even bothering to do that) and fairly bolted out the door, not even waiting to see if Q left or not.

As he ran, he noticed a bunch of teenagers spray painting rude words on one of the storefronts. He knew without looking that they were some of those kids who called themselves the Maquis, the only gang in Enterprise and arguably only a nuisance. Even as that thought crossed his mind, a sick feeling ran through him. Instinctively, he checked to see if Thomas and Ro-Laren were there, but neither of the two were. It was just Chakotay, B'Elanna, and a couple of other older Maquis. Although he was rather upset by any Maquis, at least he didn't see his brother or sister. His biggest two failures as the adult in charge of his family. **[3]**

He continued running until he reached a side street, the considerably darker 10th Street. Even so, he wasn't scared by venturing into the darkness. After all, he'd brought a flashlight, and besides, he knew 10th street quite well. After all, Ten-Forward, the general center of social life in Enterprise, was on this street. And even he, who was hardly a social butterfly, had spent many happy hours here with his two best friends over the years. At any rate, he could stop in any time and talk to Guinan, who offered wise advice like others might offer candy.

He kept running until he reached the end of Tenth Street, the longest street in the town (except maybe for Main Street), then turned again into the light on another side street. This was a very different part of Enterprise, with its taller buildings and small but not insignificant business district. He would probably never come here were it not for _her_.

Finally, he reached the building which he had made his final destination on many an occasion, typically when all his siblings were out of the house and wouldn't know he went here. Most of them, as well as several of the kids from #1701 next door, teased him mercilessly for this particular friendship. For some reason, the teasing really got to him.

He looked up to the eighth floor, wondering if she was still awake. He hadn't been able to see the time of the text while Q had been waving his phone in front of his face. Well, there was only one way to find out, wasn't there?

Eight flights of stairs later (Jean-Luc distrusted the elevator of the building, which had broken while he was in it before), he reached the dimly-lit hallway which the apartments on the floor all opened up to. It seemed as though another of the lights had stopped working, judging from the dark place at the end of the hallway.

_Not that it matters,_ he thought as he started walking towards his destination. _I could walk this in my sleep and still know exactly where to go._

Once he reached the doorway, he pulled his key ring from one of his pockets and quietly searched for the correct key. He had always had a key for both of his best friends' homes close to his own, as they had keys to his home. It was hard to believe he hadn't used two of them in more than three years, and even harder to believe that he still kept the key of one of them in spite of the fact that its owner had died. Jean-Luc felt a small pang in his heart as he pushed aside the key a child's hand had labeled "Jack" so many years ago. But it would not do to dwell on such thoughts. He was going to see his friend who was still living, the one who had lost so much more upon Jack's death.

Finally, he had the key for this door. Fitting it into the lock, he turned his wrist and then clicked the handle open.

Inside, the apartment's living room was dark, and he could tell the kitchen would be too. He didn't turn to look at the bedrooms, suspecting a few lights were on in there, and kept walking through the apartment after closing the door quietly behind him. The sliding glass door to the balcony was open, and Jean-Luc knew that that was where he'd find her. Quietly, he walked through the apartment to the door, then, walking through it, turned to see if he was right.

He was. The fact that he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around his body solidified that. Instantly, he felt tendrils of warmth curl through his body, the likes of which he felt for no one else. It was something which puzzled him, but he thought nothing of it and returned the hug. **[4]**

"Jean-Luc," the young woman greeted him, joy and warmth and a thousand good things in her voice. "I knew you would come."

"Beverly," he replied with the same tone (or as close as he could get to it), breaking the hug to see the smile on her face. "Why did you want to see me?"

She shrugged. "I guess I was just a little lonely. Wesley's asleep, and you're my first contact for cases like this." She didn't apologize. He didn't care. He was the one who ought to be apologizing for not being around for her more often-what the HELL was he thinking now?! He sounded like a lovestruck teenage girl!

He smiled, putting the thoughts out of his mind, as Beverly sat back down in one of the chairs on the balcony and sat down in the available one. Testing his hand on the table, he felt it wander towards a source of warmth and realized there was a cup of earl grey tea resting there.

"You expected me to come," Jean-Luc observed, lifting the cup and blowing on the tea.

"Wishful thinking," she replied. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing, instead just sipping the tea.

Beverly's apartment, although somewhat dilapidated, had an excellent view of the woods to the north of Enterprise. When she and Jack had moved in together, they'd picked this place for that exact reason. They'd been absolutely dazzled by the view, and considering the small amount of money they'd had, this was about as good as it got. The sea of green seemed to stretch on forever, with the lights of a neighboring town only an unfocused haze off in the distance.

The two sat, talking, for what felt like mere minutes but turned out to be an upward of two hours, and it was after 1:30 in the morning when he said goodbye and returned on his run home.

Needless to say, both slept quite well after that. But then, Jean-Luc thought as he pulled off his clothes and pulled on his pajamas (first checking to make sure that Q was out of the room), Beverly had that effect on him.

Oh, for the love of Pete. What was wrong with him?

* * *

**[1]: **I just had to include that at one point. I don't think it's too funny, but the urge was irresistible

**[2]: **This might be in a later storyline. I don't know yet; would anyone read that?

**[3]: **I don't know how well this is coming across, but I tried hinting at some things here that'll be important later. As a matter of fact, everything I mention here will be important later.

**[4]: **You know, one of the hardest bits about characterizing Jean-Luc in this fic is the fact that in canon, his character is much older and wiser, having experienced many things and developed off-camera before the show even started. Thus, writing him as a normal young adult struggling with things (such as crushes, which is implied here) in a way a young adult would is proving to be difficult. Extremely difficult.


	9. Chapter 8

**Saturday morning**

**AUthor's note: **_I am so sorry about the length of time between the updates. I had a hell of a past two weeks, starting with the fact that I lost the chapter. And I'd nearly been done, too. Then my grades took a dip, the election occurred, and my brother's beloved pet lizard died. I feel terrible about not updating in so long. Can you, my wonderful readers, forgive me?__  
_

_And also, this chapter is shorter than I'd hoped it would be. However, I wanted to get it out before my readers forgot about me… By the way, it's a time skip. We last saw everyone on Thursday night. So we skipped Friday._

_Speaking of readers, I'll reply to them here._

**Hermione-of-Vulcan: **Glad you liked them! I'm trying to reference as much of the Star Trek canon in some way or other without it becoming annoying. And Picard/Crusher is my OTP completely. Their romance was believable and touching. If only they'd taken a step further…

Thomas is the duplicate if Riker. Or in this story, his twin. And don't worry; the Maquis will figule prominently into the story. I'll not spoil anything, but the hardcore shipper in you will be happy.

**Trekkie2: **Hmm, still not quite sure what you're getting at (sorry; I'm not that good at thinking this late at night). And I might post a list of the teens, or perhaps even a whole guide to the ASTCE-verse. Just gotta write some more.

And to your second review? I agree that Picard should've been more romantically involved, specifically with Dr. Crusher. The chemistry was there. (total hardcore P/C shipper here…)

**Susan Hilton: **I'll be sure to check it out! Your story, I mean. I keep meaning to; expect my review really soon :)

**Katia Swift: **You're almost right about Jack and Beverly. They're explained a little more later on in the story, but let's just say I had to seriously condense their marital life majorly into this story.

I'm so glad you liked my writing of P/C. It's the first real romance I've tackled.

_And now. Forward at last. _

* * *

James smiled to himself and burrowed deeper into the covers.

Finally, Saturday had come. He could stay burrowed in his covers thinking about life or whatever else for as long as he wanted (dang body clock has woken him up at 6:30 again). He might even be able to go back to sleep. The morning was so dark, so still, and-

"DAMMIT Q, GET OUT OF THE FLOWERS!"

Well, a certain Jean-Luc's screaming had certainly disturbed the peace of the morning. James groaned. He supposed this was what he got for sleeping with the window open, but he couldn't help it. The fresh air moving through his room was so pleasant. Besides, it helped alleviate his near-constant feeling of being closed in. He supposed it was another side effect of being a teenager.

Sighing, he started to pull the covers off to go see what was wrong this time. Stumbling out the window, he peeked out to see the eldest member of the family at 1701-D in insanely short pajama bottoms **[1]** standing on his lawn. His hands were on his hips and his expression was one of pure frustration. Meanwhile, his dark haired cousin was sitting in the flower bed, smirking.

"Why, dear cousin, I'm only picking flowers for you!" Q declared, holding out a handful of rather crushed-looking flowers.

"Well, these flowers aren't for you to pick!" Jean-Luc snapped.

"I bet they're for your girlfriend, then."

"Beverly is not my girlfriend. Never has been, never will be."

"Yes she is. Aww, you're blushing!" **[2]**

"I am _not_. Now get out of my flowers."

"Make me."

James turned away and closed the window, hiding a grin. Q and Jean-Luc, whenever they were together, were more entertaining than Saturday Morning Cartoons.

Sighing, he snuggled back into bed. _Now_ he could rest and properly enjoy a peaceful Saturday morning. However, just as he thought this, the door slid open and Pavel entered.

"You're up early," James observed. The child looked guiltily at him before climbing into the bed.

"Nightmare?" James asked him. The child nodded and curled up next to him. James instinctively wrapped his arms around the smaller body and let Pavel get comfortable before he tried to get back to sleep. Pavel had spent many nights in James' room, so this didn't bother James one bit.

There. Pavel was comfy, or so it seemed, and his breathing had slowed. _Now_ he could get back to-

**"CHICKEN**

**NUGGET, BISCUIT, NUGGET IN A BISCUIT.**

**NUGGET, BISCUIT, NUGGET IN A BISCUIT.**

**NUGGET, BISCUIT, NUGGET IN A BISCUIT.**

**DIP IT ALL IN MASHED POTATOES!****" [3]**

James groaned. Of course he'd set his alarm clock last night. The one night that he shouldn't have remembered rather than shouldn't have forgotten as he normally did. Pavel bounced up, instantly jolted out of his dozing state, before giving James a look which clearly said 'really, James?' when he recognized the song. James quickly turned off the alarm and, when he saw Pavel's look, shrugged.

"Wakes me up," he replied. "Now, let's get back to sleep, shall we?"

Pavel had literally just closed his eyes when they heard a terrific crashing in the hallway. A second later, it came again. Both boys quickly leapt out of bed and threw James' door open…to see Kevin and Hikaru banging Sulu's katanas against two pot lids and yelling at each other.

"WHAT is going on here?!" Leonard yelled, throwing his door open.

"You are behaving most illogically," Spock declared, opening his door. As usual, he had not one hair out of place. He was even dressed already, wearing his black pants and blue turtleneck.

"Can't you see we're trying to sleep, lads?" Scotty shouted, throwing his door open. He, unlike Spock, looked very, very untidy.

"We're practicing for the annual county picnic!" Kevin declared.

"Yeah, all those dumb kids from Qo'noS **[4] **Academy will be there," Hikaru added.

Hearing this, everyone (even Spock, who declared their behavior was illogical once more) closed their doors. There was a great deal of enmity between the students of Qo'noS Academy and the students of Enterprise K-12. Worf, one of the adopted kids next door, had been supposed to go there when he was older, but had never gotten the chance. When the kids at 1701 had found out, they treated the fierce boy with plenty of distrust.

Once James closed his door, he turned to look at Pavel. The little boy was sitting on the bed, dark eyes watching James' every move. His eyes looked so soulful, so deep **[5]**. James wished once again that his brother could talk. Perhaps he would have interesting things to say.

"Perhaps we had better just give up and have breakfast, eh, Pavel?" James suggested. "Not much use in getting back to sleep at this point."

The child nodded and hopped off the bed, taking James' hand as the older boy reopened the door (quietly now in case the others were asleep). The two walked down the hall in silence, determined not to arouse anyone's (corrsction: Leonard or Scotty's) ire. Silently, James realized once more that it was Saturday. Which meant that Leonard couldn't stop him from enjoying the premiere right of Saturday morning. Apparently Pavel had the same idea, for his pace quickened to match James' longer strides. Yet the two continued to walk as silently as possible.

They reached the kitchen with one mind, one intention. Pavel took one look at James before turning towards the counters. Taking a drawer handle in one hand and securing one of his small feet (how small of a child he really was, even for a seven-year-old) **[6]** in one of the lower handles, he started climbing like a monkey up to the counter. James watched the small hands grasp the stainless steel handles and knobs in mild amusement. So _that_ was how the kid pulled off what had been dubbed The Great Cereal Heist a few days before, even though Spock had declared the name to be illogical. As he had pointed out, Pavel had technically not pulled off a heist. Leonard had told him to can it.

The seventeen-year-old turned to the cupboard he was standing next to and opened it. Recognizing the fact that Spock probably wasn't going to want any, James got six bowls out and walked over to Pavel with two.

The seven-year-old, meanwhile, had opened the (still unpadlocked) cupboard and was holding a box of sugar cereal in his arms. James could practically taste triumph as Pavel opened the box and poured it into one of the bowls. Finally, they would enjoy their cereal uninterrupted, unwitnessed by annoyed siblings-

"Although it is the weekend, I still find your choice of food to be most illogical."

James turned to see none other than Spock standing there, dark eyes watching the action and a single eyebrow quirked.

"Spock, what's irrational in liking sugar?" James asked lightly. Pavel finished pouring the cereal. "It won't hurt you or anything."

"It will make your already irrational behavior increasingly so, if past experiences are anything to base my idea on," Spock pointed out. "And furthermore, it is unhealthy."

He was suddenly interrupted by Pavel, who had closed the cereal box and walked (on the counter) towards him. The young boy offered James' logical twin the bowl and smiled warmly at him.

"Pavel, I have just said that sugary cereal is illogical. As is standing on the counter," Spock pointed out. Pavel pushed the bowl closer, eyes silently pleading. James couldn't help but smile at the scene, and knew that Pavel was making his best effort to include Spock, even if the older boy would resist it as best he could. Or perhaps it was that Pavel had heard James' complaints that Spock should really lighten up, and was ensuring in his own little way that that would be the case.

"Pavel-" Spock cut off and looked at his little brother. Pavel was now trying a puppy expression on his brother. Spock was the only one who was completely immune it. Even Jean-Luc, who had been dubbed by Kevin as Grouch Extraordinaire, had been known to give in. Well, Data never really had, but did the poor kid count? He was like a computer.

"-that is illogical, too," Spock finished.

"C'mon, Spock. Just this once?" James asked. "You ARE human, you know. You can afford to be illogical once in a while."

"No, James. I do not wish to be illogical."

"How do you know that sugar cereal will make _you_ act illogically. Maybe it'll affect you differently than us mere humans," James tried another tack in the argument, voice dripping in sarcasm. Pavel smiled winningly in agreement, an expression which looked like a cuter knock-off on Will's expression of the same purpose.

"James, what if I simply do not wish to?" Spock ignored his last two points.

"Please, Spock. We won't bother you when you're reading."

"No. I am not bothered."

"We won't mix your tea with coffee."

"No thank you."

And then, James saw clearly that promises wouldn't work. So he turned to threats.

"You do know that we won't be leaving until you agree to going with us, right?" He pointed out. Apparently, Spock did realize, and took the bowl. He decided that he would go for a walk later to burn the energy, and perhaps he would meditate to keep himself calm. Besides, the argument had grown tiring.

James and Pavel wore identical grins as James got another bowl out of the cupboard and took two over to Pavel. The kid filled both, then closed the box and left it on the counter. He knew that at least two of his brothers would want some later, when they woke up.

James took the two cereal bowls, Pavel climbed back down to the floor, and the two walked over to the breakfast nook. Spock was already seated, expression calm and serene as always so the other two wouldn't be able to read his emotions.

And the three sat in silence, enjoying one another's company. And yes, that includes Spock, he'd just deny it later.

* * *

**(Author's note: **_Originally, I wasn't going to include this, as I'd planned to write a Voyager bit too and this seemed a little out of place without it. If anyone wants to see it, perhaps I'll post that next.)_

After he'd manually dragged Q out of the flower bed, Jean-Luc walked back in to the house and slammed the door.

Quickly, he locked it as well, then leaned against it. Locks probably wouldn't keep Q out. He didn't know how he knew that, just that he did.

Sighing, he pushed himself away from the door and started walking to the kitchen. Tussling with Q over flowers that he had in fact been growing for Beverly (for one of her experimentx, not because he liked her or anything. Why was he suddenly feeling a little tingly?) was not the way he'd want to begin his day, especially judging the mood he'd already been in. He'd had a particularly rough day yesterday, having stayed up late with Beverly to the detriment of his sleep (and mood). Then he'd lost his temper at his siblings (two separate times), lost his favorite book on archaeology, had to force Will to clean his room after he got home from school, and had even yelled at Data. For goodness sake, how terrible of a sibling could he end up being? His damn temper and the fact that he had never really been comfortable with children, even his own siblings, even when he had been a child, made him totally unsuited for this job.

Trying to focus on other things, he reached the kitchen and grabbed the kettle to fill it with water for his morning tea. And that was when he noticed that the kettle was already warm. Someone else was up and, from the looks of it, was also having tea.

"I have already made you tea, Jean-Luc," came a voice from the dining room just as the thought crossed Jean-Luc's mind. Jean-Luc knew without turning around to see that it was Data.

"Did Q and I wake you up?" he asked as he walked over to sit next to the fifteen-year-old. He noticed that Data didn't seem angry about being yelled at yesterday and felt slightly guilty once more.

"I was already awake," Data replied. "I decided that perhaps I could partake in your morning ritual of tea, if you have no objection."

"Why this morning?" Jean-Luc asked, leaving the nasty way in which he had acted yesterday towards his siblings out of it. Even so, the unspoken question was definitely there. As was the unspoken apology.

"Why not?" Data replied, minor confusion creeping into his voice.

Jean-Luc felt a soft smile creep onto his face as he sat down next to Data and took the cup of tea that his younger brother offered. Even though it was the result of some sort of trauma, it was sometimes comforting to have a brother without feelings to hurt. No matter how badly he messed up, Data would never think less of him for it.

And that was a start.

* * *

**[1]: **Seriously, What was with Captain Picard's pajamas in TNG?

**[2]: **Remember, Jean-Luc's not much more than a teenager in this. Thus, he will have definite behavior which will be of a teenager. Including blushing (he did; he'll try denying it though). Does that seem too OOC?

**[3]: **If anyone identifies the song, they get free cookies.

**[4]: **This was the name of the Klingon home world in the series. Yep, it's obvious what I was doing there, wasn't it?

**[5]: **Something I always loved about Walter Koenig's portrayal of Chekov. His eyes were always so soulful.

**[6]: **Correct me of I'm wrong, but he always did seem pretty short in TOS…


End file.
